Computer systems vary in complexity in terms of the number of machines in a computer system, the communication among the machines in the computer system, and the code that executes on each machine. The more complex a computer system, the more likely that race conditions will arise. A race condition is an undesirable situation that occurs when a device or system attempts to perform two or more operations at the same time, but due to the nature of the device or system, the operations must be done in the proper sequence in order to be done correctly.
One complication arises when remote users of the system are accessing and updating data while the system is attempting to change the same data. While preventing remote access may appear like a reasonable solution, such a practice results in poor user experience and, consequently, an increased likelihood that users will stop utilizing the system.
Another complication arises when multiple databases need to be updated simultaneously. If not done correctly, then, due to the relationship between the data in the respective databases, content mismatches will result, signaling poor system performance. Techniques for updating multiple databases in a way to eliminate one or both of these complications would be beneficial.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.